Finnish presidential election, 2018

Finnish presidential election, 2018
Finland
28 January 2018
President before election

Sauli Niinistö
National Coalition

 Elected President

TBD

Presidential elections are scheduled to be held in Finland on 28 January 2018, with a second round on 11 February if necessary.[1] The elected president's term will last until 2024. The incumbent Sauli Niinistö is eligible for re-election.

Candidates

Centre Party

Centre Party decided on 30 November 2016 that the party would choose their presidential candidate already in July 2016.[2] Soon after, former Prime Minister and Centre Party's presidential candidate in 2006 election, Matti Vanhanen, announced that he would be seeking for the candidacy.[3] He remains to be the only person seeking for candidacy, while incumbent Prime Minister Juha Sipilä and veteral politician Paavo Väyrynen have both declined their interest.[2][4]

Other prominent names in speculations for the candidacy were Prime Minister Esko Aho and European Commissioner Olli Rehn.[5][6] Rehn declined the possibility stating that it wouldn't be possible to combine his duties as cabinet minister with campaigning.[7] As Aho is a candidate for the Supervisory Board of Sberbank, it's unlikely that he would seek presidential nomination either.[8]

Former Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen was the first to announce his candidacy on 17 March 2016.

Announced

Possible

Finns Party

Leader of the Finns Party Timo Soini announced early on in November 2014 that he would not seek candidacy in the 2018 presidential election, after getting 3,43 % and 9,4 % of votes in 2006 and 2012 presidential elections respectively.[9] He reaffirmed his decision in April 2016, encouraging party to move on and inviting new faces to enter party's primaries.[10] As Soini has been a strong face for the Finns Party, his decision sparked much speculation on the party's decision, the most prominent names being the current Minister of Defence Jussi Niinistö and chairman of the Finns Party's parliamentary group and former Member of the European parliament Sampo Terho.[11]

Possible

The incumbent President Sauli Niinistö has promised to announce his decision a year before the election.

Green League

Green League's presidential candidate in 2012 election, Pekka Haavisto, has been asked to reprise his candidacy. Haavisto has stated, that he will announce his decision in fall 2016.[13]

Possible

Left Alliance

Possible

National Coalition Party

The incumbent President Sauli Niinistö is eligible for re-election and will announce his decision a year before the election.[14] Some names have been speculated, if Niinistö won't seek for another term, including the incumbent Minister of Finance and party's leader Alexander Stubb.[15]

Possible

Social Democratic Party

In the Social Democratic Party, there has been two clear names in the speculation, Eero Heinäluoma and Jutta Urpilainen.[16][6] Neither of them has announced their candidacy. Leader of the party, Antti Rinne, announced that he is not entering the party primaries.[17]

Possible

References

  1. ↑ "Vuosina 2016-2030 toimitettavat säännönmukaiset vaalit" (in Finnish). Ministry of Justice. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  2. 1 2 "Keskustalta yllätysveto: Presidenttiehdokas jo kesällä - Sipilä kieltäytyy" (in Finnish). Suomenmaa. 15 March 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  3. 1 2 "Vanhanen lähtee presidenttikisaan ja luopuu keskustan eduskuntaryhmän johdosta" (in Finnish). Helsingin sanomat. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  4. ↑ "Väyrynen pettyi liberaaliin puoluejohtoon ja jättäytyy puolueen hallinnosta – "En aio puuttua puolueen asioihin"" (in Finnish). Helsingin sanomat. 25 January 2016. Retrieved 14 March 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Eiköhän jo avata presidenttipelikin" (in Finnish). Helsingin sanomat. 4 January 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  6. 1 2 "Demarien presidenttipeli pyörii: Heinäluoma vai Urpilainen" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 23 February 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  7. ↑ "Olli Rehn ei lähde presidenttikisaan" (in Finnish). Ilta-sanomat. 3 May 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  8. ↑ "Ex-pääministeri Esko Aho ehdolla huippupaikalle venäläispankkiin" (in Finnish). Ilta-sanomat. 17 March 2016. Retrieved 3 May 2016.
  9. ↑ "Timo Soini: En lähde enää presidenttiehdokkaaksi" (in Finnish). Apu. 28 November 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  10. ↑ "Timo Soini ei pyri presidentiksi – "Puolueen on aika siirtyä eteenpäin"" (in Finnish). Ilta-sanomat. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  11. 1 2 3 4 5 "Pekka Ervasti: Persupressa" (in Finnish). Yle. 14 April 2016. Retrieved 14 April 2016.
  12. 1 2 "Näkökulma: Presidenttipeli on avattu" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 26 March 2016. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  13. ↑ "Vuoden 2018 presidenttipeli vielä auki – he saattavat havitella paikkaa" (in Finnish). Helsingin sanomat. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 1 May. Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  14. ↑ "Presidentti Niinistö: Jatkohalut julki noin vuosi ennen vaaleja" (in Finnish). Yle. 28 February 2015. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  15. ↑ "IS-tutkimus: Niinistö ottaisi presidentinvaalissa rökälevoiton" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.
  16. ↑ "Demarin ex-vetäjä: Heinäluoma tähtää presidentiksi" (in Finnish). Ilta-Sanomat. 8 March 2013. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  17. ↑ "Antti Rinne ei lähde presidenttiehdokkaaksi" (in Finnish). Iltalehti. 15 April 2016. Retrieved 15 April 2016.

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Tuesday, May 03, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.